New CAPAC-CAB Recording Features Morawetz and Matton
THE latest release in the CAPAC-CAB series of recordings of
compositions by Canadian composers is an album featuring piano concertos by Oskar Morawetz
© and Roger Matton ©. The series is financed by the Composers, Authors and Publishers Association of
Canada (CAPAC) through an arrangement with the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB). Records are on sale through regular retail channels and receive wide distribution to program outlets both in Canada and abroad. The Morawetz-Matton album is distributed by Capitol Records (English) and Pathe Records (French).
It features Piano Concerto No.1 by Oskar Morawetz (Soloist: Anton Kuerti) and Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra by Roger Matton (Soloists: Renée Morisset and Victor Bouchard). Both concertos were recorded at Massey Hall by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Susskind.
Piano Concerto No.1 was the winning composition in a nation-wide competition sponsored by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 1962. Since then it has been performed by The Orchestra of America in New York and by the Minneapolis Symphony. There have also been performances of the concerto over the CBC and BBC radio networks.
The composer, Dr. Oskar Morawetz, was born in Czechoslovakia in 1917. He has been living and working in Canada since 1940. His compositions which include several major orchestral works, chamber music and piano compositions, have been performed in Canada, U.S.A., Europe and Australia.
Piano Concerto No.1 has three movements, played without interruption. "The first movement," says the descriptive note on the album cover, "is dramatic in character, written in a free sonata form. The second, after a lyrical orchestral introduction, leads to a dynamic climax when the different themes of this movement are combined. The gay third movement has much rhythmic vitality."
Morawetz belongs to no 'school' of composition. He has no interest in 'isms' and does not, he says, "write to be more 'advanced' than anybody else."
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The release of the Morawetz-Matton album, fifth in an extensive series of recordings is part of CAPAC'S general program of activity
to achieve wider recognition for Canadian Composers.
